Messi scores a hat-trick as Barca thrash City
Leo runs circles around Manchester defence, scores hat-trick on return from injury
Paris, Oct. 20: Lionel Messi spoiled Pep Guardiola’s homecoming by scoring a hat-trick in Barcelona’s 4-0 win over 10man Manchester City in the Champions League on Wednesday, while Bayern Munich shook off their recent patchy form to defeat PSV Eindhoven 4-1.
Messi pounced on a Fernandinho slip to nudge Barca in front on 17 minutes, and the Argentine doubled his tally on the hour following the dismissal of City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo.
The Chile international, who left the Camp Nou in August to replace Joe Hart at City, was sent off for a blatant handball outside the area having knocked his misplaced clearance straight to Luis Suarez.
Messi swept in a third on 69 minutes to complete a second straight hat-trick in Europe, while Barca also finished the game a man down after substitute Jeremy Mathieu picked up a second booking.
Neymar missed a late penalty but atoned with Barca’s fourth soon after as the Spaniards made it three wins from three to take control of Group C, with second-place City five points adrift.
Lars Stindl and Andre Hahn both capitalised on mistakes from Kolo Toure to gift Borussia Moenchengladbach their first points of the competition with a 2-0 win at Celtic.
In Munich, Carlo Ancelotti’s Bayern dismissed concerns about their performance of late by ending a three-match winless run at home to PSV Eindhoven.
Thomas Mueller grabbed a 13th-minute opener at the Allianz Arena before fellow Germany international Joshua Kimmich netted his seventh goal in all competitions this season.
Luciano Narsingh gave PSV hope when he halved the deficit shortly before the break, but Poland striker Robert Lewandowski eased fears of another setback with Arjen Robben netting Bayern’s fourth.
However, the Bundesliga giants still trail Atletico Madrid in Group D after Yannick Carrasco’s second-half strike steered last year’s finalists to another 1-0 victory away to Russian side Rostov.
Mesut Ozil notched a second-half hat-trick as Arsenal thrashed Ludogorets Razgrad of Bulgaria 6-0, the German piling on the misery for the visitors after goals from Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
In another Champions League match, Paris Saint-Germain tallied seven points in Group A, but the French champions rode their luck in a 3-0 win over Basel. In Munich, Carlo Ancelotti’s Bayern dismissed concerns about their performance of late by ending a three-match winless run at home to PSV Eindhoven, 4-1.